The history of Britain since the Second World War can be written largely in
terms of her prime ministers from Attlee to Blair. Indeed, many today think the prime
minister, all-powerful, almost a presidential figure. Most of the essays in From the New
Jerusalem to New Labour, have been written by historians personally acquainted with those
who rose to the top of the greasy pole. How did they reach No 10? What sort of people were
they? What were their aims? What difference did they really make? What, finally, is the
impact of personality on politics? Accessible and stimulating, these essays shine a
powerful light on the direction of postwar politics.
VERNON BOGDANOR is Professor of Government, Oxford University and a
Fellow of the British Academy. His books include Devolution in the United Kingdom, The
People and the Party System, Multi-Party Politics and the Constitution and The New British
Constitution. He is a frequent contributor to TV, radio and the press. In 2008, he was
awarded the Isaiah Berlin prize by the Political Studies Association for Lifetime
Contribution to Political Studies,
Table of Contents
Preface
Notes on Contributors
Introduction; Vernon Bogdanor
Clement Attlee 1945-1951; Paul Addison
Winston Churchill 1951-1955; Vernon Bogdanor
Anthony Eden 1955-1957; David Carlton
Harold Macmillan 1957-1963; D.R.Thorpe
Alec Douglas-Home 1963-1964; D.R.Thorpe
Harold Wilson 1964-1970, 1974-1976; Philip Ziegler
Heath; Philip Ziegler
James Callaghan 1976-1979; Kenneth O.Morgan
Margaret Thatcher 1979-1990; Keith Middlemas
John Major 1990-1997; Vernon Bogdanor
Tony Blair 1997-2007; Anthony Giddens
Conclusion
224 pages, Hardcover